Hooked by an Octopus
Hooked by an Octopus is the title of underwater filmmaker Mike deGruy’s Ted Talk, where he discusses his utter fascination with octopus and the ocean itself.
I was really drawn to both the subject matter & descriptive language used in his Ted Talk about octopus, the ocean & its mid-water community and created this illustrated book which helps to support and visually translate the content of his compelling speech. Everything was drawn digitally in Procreate, then laid out in InDesign, printed & bound.
Illustration // Graphic Design // Typography // PrintFinal Digital
Mike DeGruy did such an amazing job of describing his connection with octopus during his time as an oceanographer and took his listeners on a journey down to the depths of the Mid-Water Community with its myriad of bizarre organisms and topography. I found this topic fascinating and was inspired by DeGruy’s passion for his work and love of the sea, it was important to me that I capture that in this book.
I focused on bold octopus illustrations as the main focal points for this project and my main objective was to ensure that the pages of the book reflect the journey down to the Mid-Water Community and back, as represented by the background color on each page. As we descend further down in the ocean, the pages fold downward revealing deep ocean creatures. Once we reach the Mid-Water Community, the pages fold out laterally showcasing a vast, dark landscape featuring an underwater mountain range and erupting volcanoes. As the speech wraps up, the colors become progressively lighter again to bring things full-circle.
